The arrival of one of Portugal’s largest financial institutions in Cape Verde is the result of a campaign promoted by Cape Verde’s Prime Minister, José Maria Neves, and Bank of Cape Verde governor Carlos Burgo. As a result of the campaign, the Portuguese banking group, headed by Ricardo Espírito Santo Salgado, decided to invest in Cape Verde. In addition to the off-shore bank, the group has among its plans a commercial bank and a hotel complex in Praia.

For the time being, Banco Espírito Santo only has a license to operate as an off-shore bank, and has as its delegated administrator António Duarte. The international financial institution thus joins the eight other off-shore banks authorized to operate in Cape Verde: Banco Insular, Banco Fiduciário Internacional, Banco Sul Atlântico, Banco Internacional de Investimentos, Banco Internacional Trading, Banco Montepio Geral de Cabo Verde, Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo and Banco Português de Negócios.

This recent demand is hoped to help increase competitiveness in Cape Verde among providers of financial services, a sector that has attracted institutions from the European Union for the most part. The move towards opening off-shore banking institutions outside of EU space comes as a result of the increased control of inter-community financial transfers, which has created a number of constraints to the movement of capital within the EU.

Alongside the off-shore banks, Cape Verde currently has four commercial banks (Banco Comercial do Atlântico or BCA, Banco Interatlântico, Banco Caboverdiano de Negócios or BCN, and Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde) and two para-banking institutions (A Promotora, a capital investment company, and the Sociedade Interbancária e Sistemas de Pagamento). The country also has three foerign exchange agencies (Cotacâmbios, ECV and Câmbios 24 Horas), two insurance companies (Garantia and Impar) and three insurance brokers (AGS, Protege and Valor).